One in five Americans calls California or Texas home. The two most populous states have a lot in common: a long coast, a sunny climate, a diverse population, plenty of oil in the ground, and Mexico to the south. Where they diverge is in their governance.

For six years ending in 2010, I represented almost 500,000 people in California’s legislature. I was vice chairman of the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation and served on the Budget Committee. I was even a lieutenant colonel in the state’s National Guard. Before serving in Sacramento, I worked as an executive in California’s aerospace indu

Posted Mar-19-2012 By

Ohyawellfuku

@Ohyawellfuku
I remember being out on the pistol range at Camp Pendleton one day. You know how that goes, guy on the loudspeaker yelling a bunch of stuff and then everybody opens fire. When we started shooting about 50 Mexicans came out from behind the berm with their hands up. They thought it was a bust.
We all laughed our asses off the rest of the whole day.

Posted Mar-19-2012 By

cdlcrash

@cdlcrash You can sell that bs to some people...but I've been to CA many times, starting in '83...and it's only getting worse. I've lived in Texas most of my adult life and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

Posted Mar-20-2012 By

copperdog3

Here's the problem. Many Californians are following the jobs out of the state, and they'll bring their toxic, clueless libthink with them. That's what happened in AZ in the late '90s, and the result was Janet Napolitano as governor.

Ohyawellfuku

Posted Mar-19-2012 By

elmerfudd13

@elmerfudd13 It's already fail. Lower graduation rate than Mississippi. Most minimum wage jobs in the country. Sounds like a great place to live............................................if your an inbred moron.

Posted May-1-2012 By

ghostofjw

If you're talking about Reno, then let me remind you that people move here from California. Maybe that tells you something. Besides, is not my fault about what is happening in that state. If I had the money I would gladly help those veterans.

Posted May-2-2012 By

ghostofjw

When I say "die", I'm not talking about you and other Americans actually die, meaning lose your lives. But when you see the policies coming out of your state, then you have to wonder. As for me being a brain-washed neo-con, if that's what you call me for telling the truth, then so be it.

Posted May-3-2012 By

conservative hispanic

I live in Houston and it is amazing how many out of state plate's I have been seeing in the past year. Plate's from all over , but I see more from the east coast 'New York and New Jersey". Most of the people moving from California are moving around the Austin area.

Posted Mar-19-2012 By

CardCarryingCardCarrier

I've lived in California for decades, and the state has deteriorated as the percentage of Democrats has increased.
They used to be tax-and-spend Democrats.
Now they're spend-and-tax Democrats.
Pray that the malignancy that is California does not metastasize to your state.

Posted Mar-19-2012 By

KingVolcano

Comment of user 'IIVXTII' has been deleted by author (after account deletion)!

@IIVXTII - Perry may have done some good and may do more good in the future...but he sold out to big pharma. Texas is a fine state except it's proximity to Mexico. However it is infested with illegals and the only thing keeping the state from falling in the abyss is oil.

Posted Mar-19-2012 By

cdlcrash

Comment of user 'firetatoo' has been deleted by author (after account deletion)!

Comment of user 'firetatoo' has been deleted by author (after account deletion)!

@cdlcrash What the fuck state are you looking at, fool? Democrats hold a 52-28 advantage in the 80 seat Assembly, and a 25-15 advantage in the 40 seat State Senate. And they control the State Board of Equalization 3-2. You don't even have the right damn # of seats or the right terminology, monkey man. We don't have a "house", it's an Assembly. Dumb fuck.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Democratic_Party

Posted Mar-19-2012 By

yorba

What this report is neglecting to say is that a vast majority of those moving to Texas are retirees. And why not? Sell your decent sized house in a California suburb and buy a sprawling mansion in TX. As for younger professionals, most would be looking at a pay cut.

Median household income
CA $60,882
TX $49,646

Poverty rate
CA 13.7%
TX 16.8%

College graduates
CA 30.1%
TX 25.8%

We're even more patriotic. Number of veterans...
CA 2,051,959
TX 1,635,367

Now I'm not denying that we don't have More..our fair share of problems. The state government does spend frivolously, welfare(i.e. section 8, medi-cal, EBT) seems to get passed out like candy, and environmentalism is just getting ridiculous. But I'd still rather tolerate these setbacks then make minimum wage and live in the land of fatbodies. I had never seen so many fat people in my life. So on that note...

Posted Mar-20-2012 By

ghostofjw

@ghostofjw Your first stat is flawed. You have to take the cost of living into accound. Texas ranks 2nd in preferred cost of living. California is at the bottom of the list. There's an online calculator you can use to calculate the cost of living difference. If you make approximately $46,000.00 per year in Austin, TX you'd have to make approximately $78,000.00 per year in San Fransisco to make even. I chose those two cities because their fairly close in population. The National Center for VeMore..terans Analysis and Statistics says CA has 1,972,000 veterans while Texas has 1,693,800. CA is still more, but I just wanted to make sure you had the numbers correct. And keep in mind, some of the stats are simply a result of Californa having a larger population overall and, in no way, makes one state better than the other... :)Less..

Posted Apr-17-2012 By

Texaroni

@ghostofjw Are you suggesting that all southerners are rightwing radicals? This is like the pot calling the kettle black. There are just as many left wing radicals. This left vs. right issue is nonsense. It's an argument fabricated by the two parties to keep us divided so that they can maintain control. As long as we're bickering with each other then they can strip us of our rights, tax us to death, and spend our money (and then some). We need to quit thinking of ourselves as Democrats and RMore..epublicans and start thinking of ourselves as Americans and do away with the two-party system. We don't need Republicans or Democrats in office. All we need are people who support the ConstitutionLess..